


Meant To Be

by josywbu



Series: Infinite Possible Ways (To Love You) [6]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Fate, Gen, Late Night Conversations, Relationship Advice, Sleepy Cuddles, Sleepy Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, i guess, it's self indulgent sue me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2020-10-12 07:14:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20560334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/josywbu/pseuds/josywbu
Summary: “Do you think some things are meant to be?”Tony squints at him like he’s a puzzle he’s trying to solve, an enigma he can’t really figure out, which is true in a lot of ways. He’s not sure where Peter is going with this but it feels important and it’s not like Tony himself hasn’t thought about that question a lot.“I do,” he nods.





	Meant To Be

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for a friend I'm not entirely sure is going to stumble over it, let's see if fate wants her to ;) love you, Gabey. <3
> 
> I had an amazing day of doing jacksquat and after a short conversation this didn't leave me alone 'cause I feel like there are people out there needing to hear it. 
> 
> It's very superficially proof read and I'm a bit rusty after not writing for ages but hope you enjoy anyway and thank you for your continued support. Love y'all loads xx

“Do you believe in fate?”

Tony looks up from the tablet he’s still working on, even though he promised himself an hour ago to wrap up soon, to find Peter leaning against the kitchen counter that is overlooking the grand living room he has holed up in after sending the kid to bed two hours ago.

He looks like he slept already, too.

There are red lines on his left cheek where he always mushes it into his pillow and even from afar Tony can see he’s blinking away sleepy sand as if he didn’t have the time to wake up properly before coming to find him. There’s an urgency to his question in the way he’s swaying on the balls of his feet and his hand is tugging on his oversized hoodie, making him seem smaller than he is.

“What do you mean?” he asks, putting down the tablet and tugging in his legs to make more room on the couch, turning towards him and patting the space next to him in a silent invitation that Peter takes without hesitation.

He curls up around one of the plush pillows like he does during movie nights and leans against the backrest of the couch, facing Tony who has to bite down a fond smile at the sight.

There’s something about Peter when he’s sleepy, something unguarded and childlike he tries to hide when he’s awake because he’s in that age where kids don’t feel like children anymore and he’s a superhero on top of that, too, and so he tries to act tough. Right now, though, he’s wearing the pink Hello Kitty pajama pants, Tony’s old MIT sweatshirt and doesn’t care about his hair being all mussed up.

He wants to ruffle that hair, wants to chase away the trouble in his eyes with a hug and kiss to his temple, but refrains. Instead, he watches closely as Peter chews the words over in his mouth before setting them free.

“Do you think some things are meant to be?”

Tony squints at him like he’s a puzzle he’s trying to solve, an enigma he can’t really figure out, which is true in a lot of ways. He’s not sure where Peter is going with this but it feels important and it’s not like Tony himself hasn’t thought about that question a lot.

“I do,” he nods.

“You do?” Peter sounds surprised, perking up at his answer, a million questions racing through his eyes before he quietens them and props his head up on his elbow. “Do you think you were meant end up here with… with all the people you ended up being here and, uh, you know?”

“I think,” he starts slowly, pausing to think because there’s a whole lot to unpack there and he’s not quite sure he’s the right person to give any kind of advice but that’s how he usually feels when Peter asks him something that’s not science related and, well, he’s always come back so far.

“I think everything happens for a reason,” he settles on finally, meeting Peter’s eyes and trying to radiate the tenderness he feels deep into his bones. “I think that bad things happen and that we have the power to make something good out of it, anyway, and get somewhere we never would’ve gotten without them.”

He’s reaching. He has no clue where Peter wants to go with this, if this is a question prompted by a nightmare and self-doubt and fear or if that’s a normal thing teenagers ask but he finds he wants to find out.

Peter seems to mull over his words for a heartbeat and bites his lower lip, a habit he turns to when he’s nervous but not really panicky anxious and so Tony tries to relax into the couch some more, grabbing a pillow of his own to hog, so he’s mirroring Peter’s pose.

“Do you think you were meant to marry Ms. Pepper?”

How, after everything they’ve been through, he’s still stuck on those formal terms, Tony will never understand but they’ve come to sound like an endearment now and he can’t picture his life without his wide eyed kid calling him Mr. Stark with the outmost joy.

Being stuck on the name he didn’t fully register the actual question, but now that he does, he frowns. There’s something deeper behind those stupidly smart doe eyes but he can’t figure it out yet.

“I do. I mean, can you imagine anyone else putting up for me this long and, hopefully, forever?”

That cracks a smile out of the kid and he gives himself a mental high- five when he sees the spark of snark in his eyes.

“And, uh,” he looks down now, breaking eye contact for the first time and concentrating on fumbling with his sleeves instead, “You, uh, you never had doubts about, uh, you know, uh, staying with her?”

“Doubts?” he almost scoffs but tries to keep the self-depreciation out of his tone (apparently that’s good for your mental health, who knew?) “Kid, you’re talking to the King of Doubt. The Lord of Suspicion. The Ruler of –“

“Okay, okay, I get it, you’re doubtful,” Peter giggles, throwing the pillow at his face and pushing himself up so he’s sitting cross-legged on the couch, hands clasped together and arms resting on his knees. Again, Tony goes to mirror his pose but keeps the two pillows in his lap.

“About a lot of things, generally,” he agrees easily. “But the real question ought to be, what are you doubtful about at –“ his eyes flick to the clock up on the kitchen wall, “two in the morning on a Saturday?”

“You know, just,” he shrugs, “stuff, I guess.”

Stuff. Sure.

But apparently asking won’t get him anywhere this time so he’ll just have to wait this out and hope his joints will keep going for however long that is going to take. Waiting, as impatient a man Tony has always been, is a virtue he has been practicing a lot recently.

He doesn’t have to wait all that long.

“How did you know Pepper was the one?”

“Same way I knew Rhodey is my best friend. Same way I knew that you’re my kid,” he points his index at Peter, smiling fondly when he blushes, “I just knew.”

“Ugh,” he huffs out in that half-way to annoyed way teenagers have perfected when not getting the expected answers right away, “But how? And when did you know? I mean, how did you know you weren’t just – I don’t know – wasting your time on us?”

“Now, why would I have ever thought I’m wasting my time on you?”

“Because, _because_,” he sighs heavily, his annoyance at the _world_? bleeding through, “If you were never meant to be then – then what’s the _point_?”

Oh. _OH_.

“Is this about that whole high-school romance you’ve got going on recently?” he asks, ignoring the indignant glare he gets in return and leaning forward to prop his chin on his hands and watching Peter intently.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but you’re having doubts about your three week relationship because you’re not sure they’re The One you’re going to grow old with and you think about breaking up just so you can be sure you’re free when The One comes along or just because you think it’s unfair to temporarily have a relationship when you’re not sure it’s gonna last forever.” He stops. “Is that about right?”

Peter is still glaring but he also gives a jerky nod and sinks deeper into the couch. “Yes, I mean, it’s just so, so _stupid_. How am I supposed to just _know_ who’s –“

“You’re not,” Tony interrupts.

“But you just said –“

“I know what I just said and I stand by it but, _christ_, you’re 16, kid. Do you think I knew who I was going to marry at 16?”

“But people say –“

“Yeah, well, there’s the problem with that statement. People say a lot of things and most of it is a load of B.S.” Tony tries to be as understanding as possible because he doesn’t want to overstep his boundaries and, he knows what that first crush feels like and he knows how big and yet small the world seems at 16 and how expectations, especially your own, can pull you down faster than you can blink.

“Listen, kid,” he lets out a long breath in an attempt to sort his thoughts, “I met Rhodey when I was 17, right? We were two nerds at MIT, having fun, being idiots, giving our parents and teachers a head full of grey hair.” He smiles at the thought, sees Peter hanging on to his every words with unconditional trust and feels his smile broaden.

“Do you think I knew then that he would be the one to pull me back into reality when my parents died four years later? Or that he would be the one to pick me up in the middle of a desert after being held captive for three months? Hell, when we met I didn’t know if we’d be able to keep up our friendship after college let alone that he’d be the best man at my wedding three decades later.”

“What I’m trying, and probably failing, to say is that you don’t always know from the start what someone else is going to mean to you somewhere along the line. And, despite what every single movie nowadays is trying to tell you, that’s okay.”

“There’s not always fireworks the first time you lay eyes on the person you’re going to spend the rest of your days with. When I met Pepper, I was more annoyed at the disturbance than anything else. She piqued my interest, though, and became a friend and then – _years_ later – she became more and while I can safely say for myself that I was hoping we could make it work, I just can’t say that the fact that it might not, never crossed my mind. And I’m sure she had her fair share of doubts, too.”

“But,” Peter leans forward, too, now, so the tip of their noses are just a few inches apart and he can feel his warm breath on his cheeks, “That seems exhausting. Not knowing, I mean.”

“Oh, it is. It’s daunting and weird to put effort into something you’re not sure is gonna last but, then again, if you don’t, it definitely ain’t.” It seems like a pretty bad way to end the conversation and Peter still looks doubtful, so he inhales again and tries to channel whatever is left of the adult in him.

“Look, as long as you feel good in your relationship – no matter if you think it’s going to last until the day one of you kicks the bucket – then just go with it. Put your heart into it and see where it takes you and just enjoy whatever happens. And, if it doesn’t feel good anymore for whatever reason then you get the heck out of there but it is okay to be in a relationship and to continue having a relationship when you don’t know if it’s ‘_meant to be’_.”

It’s quiet for a second then, while Peter’s eyes search his for _something_ that he seems to find because then he exhales and, in a voice smaller than he has ever heard him, asks: “And that’s … really okay?”

“Yeah, kid. It really is.”

When he lets out his next breath, it’s like years of worry have fallen from his young shoulders and his entire posture loosens when he lets himself fall forward into Tony’s lap so his head comes to rest on the pillows.

His eyes have already fallen shut when he mumbles a _thank you_ and Tony can’t help the bout of unconditional love racing through his heart like a shooting star lighting up the night sky. He reaches out to comb his fingers through the messy shock of curls and smiles when the kid leans into the touch.

“Mis’er S’ark?”

He hums.

“When’d y’ know I’m y’r kid?”

“When I realized what a dumbass you were, Underoos.”

“Hey,” he blinks up scandalized, a frown sitting between his eyebrows, “Fo’ real, though?”

“I think it was in the lab some day,” he whispers, rubbing a thumb over Peter’s temple absentmindedly, knowing how fast it sends him off to dreamland and already accepting the fact that he would have to carry him upstairs. Again.

“You were talking about an idea that Ned and you came up on your way home and were asking me if it was feasible.” He’s not sure what the idea was about but he’s 90 percent certain it wasn’t.

“I just looked at you and I knew.”

Peter doesn’t reply but he does curl up, digging his nose into Tony’s knee and smiles, the picture of content and he realizes, yeah, he’s never been surer of anything in his life.

“Love you, Pete.”


End file.
